This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for working in hazardous environments and, more specifically, to methods and apparatus for working in radioactive environments.
Since the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, industry has struggled to safely conduct plant maintenance and other necessary work within hazardous environments. Prior to the second half of this century, most such hazardous environments involved hazardous chemical agents. Since 1950, such hazardous environments may also involve radioactive agents. Industry is continuously working towards improving equipment and techniques which will make working within such hazardous environments safer.
The nuclear power industry has been especially active in this regard. The problem faced by the nuclear power industry is how to safely conduct maintenance and other necessary work within the large confined structures wherein potential sources of radioactivity are typically housed. Work within such confining structures requires extensive efforts to minimize dangers to workers from radioactive exposure. In the 1990""s, such efforts include the employment of a wide variety of sophisticated equipment to monitor radiation levels within the work area and to monitor the personal radiation exposure of each worker within the work area. Video cameras and radio communication equipment are also increasingly used to allow supervisory personnel outside the confining structure to more efficiently monitor and supervise work within the work area.
The use of such sophisticated equipment, however, has led to a number of problems. First of all, the use of the wide variety of sophisticated equipment frequently results in the work area being cluttered with an inordinate number of individual pieces of equipment. This not only presents a physical space problem, but also makes the work area prone to tripping accidents.
A second problem arises from the fact that each individual piece of equipment generally requires its own electrical power and generally requires its own data input and data output cables. This leads to a proliferation of electrical wires and cables strung throughout the work area. All of these electrical wires represent safety obstructions within the work area and make set-up of the various pieces of equipment inordinately complicated, time-consuming and expensive.
A third problem regarding the use of such sophisticated equipment arises from the fact that typical confining structures have a limited number of electrical outlets. The increasing use of individual sophisticated devices has created a competition for those electrical outlets, not only among the various pieces of equipment, but also between the various pieces of equipment and the electrical tools used by the workers performing the work. It is not unusual, for example, for a worker needing electrical power for his tool to unplug one of the sophisticated monitoring devices within the work area so as to have access to the electrical outlet for his tool.
A fourth problem regarding the use of the wide variety of sophisticated equipment arises from the difficulty in transmitting all of the data from each individual piece of equipment to monitoring stations located outside of the confining structure. Typically, such confining structures have only a very limited number of xe2x80x9cpenetration portsxe2x80x9d through which electrical wires and cables can be run between the inside and the outside of the confining structure. As the number of sophisticated pieces of equipment within the work area has proliferated, the difficulty in transmitting all of the data from all of these pieces of equipment to outside the confining area has increased.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques and equipment for maintaining the safety of workers within a confined hazardous area which avoid the above-described problems in the prior artxe2x80x94in an efficient and inexpensive manner.
The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a combination comprising: (a) a plurality of portable input modules, each portable input module being capable of receiving video, audio and hazardous material indications data and transmitting that data via a single portable input module data transmission cable, (b) a relay module for receiving the communications data from the plurality of portable input modules via each of the single portable input module""s data transmission cables and for transmitting that data via a single relay module data transmission cable, and (c) a communications output station for receiving the communications data from the relay module via the single relay module data transmission cable and for translating that data into user recognizable video, audio and hazardous material indications data output forms.
The invention provides a fully integrated module which allows for audio communications to be exchanged between several workers working simultaneously within the work area and for communications of audio, video and hazardous material indications data with health physics technicians and supervisors working away from the work area. The invention allows for the rapid and efficient set-up, operation and disassembly of various modular communications and hazardous material indications data receiver/transmitters. Use of the invention has been found to greatly reduce the costs of conducting work within hazardous environments, while greatly improving the ability of the workers to conduct the work in a safe and efficient manner.
The invention is ideally suited for use in a unique system for protecting workers within radioactive environments as set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/240,917 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,410, entitled xe2x80x9cModule Pack for Coordination of Work Within Hazardous Environments,xe2x80x9d filed concurrently herewith. The invention is also ideally suited for use with a unique head gear combination as set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/239,228 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,450, entitled xe2x80x9cHead Gear for Work in Radioactive Environments,xe2x80x9d filed concurrently herewith. The invention is still further ideally suited for use with a unique vest combination as set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/239,557 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,202, entitled xe2x80x9cBest for Work in Radioactive Environments,xe2x80x9d also filed concurrently herewith. The entirety of each of these three patent applications is incorporated herein by this reference.